Santa Fe West Gallery

Alladins' Cave
So much beauty and treasure in this store - don't
miss a visit while you're in Santa Fe. As mentioned
previously, Moses can also be listed as a
treasure :) He offers assistance but allows you
time and space to discover all that the store
holds. Several pieces spoke to me and Moses
patiently allowed me time with them and shared
his knowledge. I was happy to pay the listed price
when I eventually found my treasure, but Moses
kindly discounted it further - just making it all the
more sweeter :)

Santa Fe is a swirling maze of art galleries and collectibles shops. Thought I had seen it all when I popped into Santa Fe West Gallery while my wife shopped next door. I had intended to kill time when I realized that here was the biggest collection of pottery--our prime art interest--that I had ever seen.

Soon I was descended upon with friendly bravado by Moses, the proprietor and the only other person in the big store. He whisked me around the long display cases on either side of the place, quickly gauging what caught my eye and pointing out piece after piece of exactly what appealed. I'm a salesman myself and I had reached critical mass with shopping, so at first I shrugged off his "pitch"; I'm from Chicago and have heard my share of hustles. In fact, I nearly ran out of the store with the fall-back excuse that I had to "rescue" my wife next door. He followed and kept up the banter, not losing a breath as others entered the store and were immediately placed under his spell.

I mentioned to my wife that we needed to slink away because Santa Fe West Gallery had a tempting amount of great pottery--and our suitcases were more than maxed out already! But I noted that this fellow Moses was a work of art himself and highly entertaining. So for fun we ventured back into the gallery, and there was Moses shouting from back in the store, "I knew you would be back! I have a few more pieces that I pulled out for you."

Friendly banter continued, including his quick assessment that my wife was the true appreciator of fine pottery. Before we were done, we had bought 5 pieces that he made irresistible by bundling a great price. And today our home is adorned with cherished memories of our stay in Santa Fe--much of it the result of our chance encounter with the unforgettable Moses.

As I said in my Tip, wow! It's more of a jewelry store than a gallery.

We came here after having breakfast next door at Tia Sophia's http://www.yelp.com/biz/tia-sophias-santa-fe#hrid:g7_ELm_9Yo4sgGUSXJekvw

We still had a few minutes on the meter and decided to look around for one last item from Santa Fe. The choices were endless and I've taken fifteen pictures of all the different jewelry. It endless!

The key however in coming here are the discounts. We paid $111.42 for a pendant that was listed at $199! Over the years I have always been suspicious when you see big markdowns or discounts, but here it's unwarranted. The staff is both friendly and nice and willing to negotiate if you find something you like. Nice!

Just go, you'll be glad you did!